We spend our lives anticipating, and trying to protect against, loss and change. We're afraid of things changing - of losing something we have or not getting something we want.

Recognizing impermanence, the concept that nothing is permanent, is about being present with what is. Everything is transient; it really is. Anything can happen at anytime. And nothing remains the same forever, it's always changing.

At first, this can seem frightening, but really it means that you don't have to live in this protected shield trying to keep things from happening. You don't know what will happen, you can't possibly know, and it's not your place to know. So when things do happen, you accept it.

Here is my personal attempt to challenge my own system of denial and turn toward a more holistic approach, acknowledging the important and intricate connection between our diets and our mood. We are learning so much about our gut health and the connection to everything else in our body. This post will touch the surface of a robust conversation about the microbiome and chronic inflammation in our gut and its relation to our mental health.

I invite you to follow the example of the great teacher of soul, Socrates, and do something concrete to introduce soul into your life. Socrates writes about the Greek therapeia, which means either "care" or "service." He says that it's like the care you'd give a horse on a farm: you feed it, brush it down, exercise it, give it water, and clean its stall. That's the model for therapy of the soul. It's an everyday attention to specific needs, not a cure or repair after things have fallen apart. Its goal is not to make life problem-free, but to give ordinary life the depth and value that come with soulfulness.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)As I've discussed before, trauma can have a devastating effect on the mind and body. EMDR is one of the most widely used and successful treatments for addressing this kind of impact.

However, you do not have to undergo an overtly distressing event for it to affect you. An accumulation of smaller “everyday” or less pronounced events can still be traumatic: conflict in relationships, an emotionally distant parent or partner, racial / sexual discrimination. EMDR can help you overcome experiences like these, which may lead to persistent negative beliefs such as, "I don't belong," "I have to be perfect," or "I'm worthless."

EMDR is related to the process that happens when we dream, known as REM sleep. Learn more about how we activate this bilateral stimulation in the brain.

1ST CHAKRA 🍎 RED 🍎 BASE OF YOUR SPINE THROUGH LEGS AND FEET

What it covers:

- Your first years of life. Your basic needs. Safety. Security. Being seen, loved.- Emotions pertaining to your childhood or family of origin. - How did you feel about the homes and neighborhoods you lived in, or the schools you attended?- The patterning you were taught by tribal / societal / familial conditioning.

How to strengthen it now:

- Grounding tools to stay connected to your self, soul, nature:

So much energy absorbs through the bottom of your feet. Touch your bare feet to the ground - dirt, earth, grass.

- Let go of old patterning. What rules are you plugged into? Rules such as "Save your money. Be cautious, be safe. By this age, I should be (fill in the blank). Things should happen how I expect them to. If I do xyz, I will be happy." What rules are you believing, operating under, that you're not even aware of?

MEDITATION: I AM SECURE. I AM SAFE. I AM GROUNDED. I AM ROOTED.

2ND CHAKRA 🔥 ORANGE 🔥 PELVIC FLOOR - PUBIC BONE AREA - LOWER ABDOMEN

What it covers (it's a big one):

- Pleasure in relationships. Creativity. Joy. Sexuality. Passion. Your need to control. Comparison. Judgment. Addiction. - Learning the value of relationship/partnership (and of the relationship with yourself too - both are important). That it's not just me, me, me - we grow, share, create pleasure with others ~ friends, family, partners, neighbors, community. - Intimacy and trust. - Your need to control others, to control events, to control the way things happen. Can you think of one person you are vitally interested and invested in controlling? - Your attitudes about sexual attractiveness, about money, about the relationship between sexual attractiveness and money. - Your capacity to nurture and be nurtured.- Your creativity, the part of you that longs to give birth to ideas.

How to strengthen it now:

- Center yourself. Close your eyes and inhale and exhale slow, deep breaths for several minutes until you notice that your mental chatter has quieted. - Rate your joy concerning your home, job, money, friends, family, partner, and creativity using 1 - 5 scale. In the areas that you're low, focus on a time in your life when you were happy. Use that memory as a tool. In the future, when making a choice, choose only those things that remind you of the happy time in your life. Do your best to walk away when the feeling is not there. - Get to know your desires. Ask yourself: what food, music, or activity is my favorite? You're trying to identify and develop your own happiness, independent of others. - Take responsibility for your thoughts and emotions. - Give more, expect less.- Less black & white thinking.- Pay attention to how many times you wonder, "What will they say if I do this?" How much of your life does this thinking control? - Release guilt. Lie on your back and place your hand on your belly. Close your eyes and repeat either out loud or in your mind, "I have always done the very best I could, in every situation of my life, with what I knew at the time."

MEDITATION: I AM HEALTHY. I AM CREATIVE. I AM ABUNDANT. I AM CALM.

3RD CHAKRA ☀️ YELLOW ☀️ STOMACH - GUT

What it covers:

- Self-esteem. Self-worth. Fear. Power. Confidence. - Boundaries.

How to strengthen it now:

- Clearing, activating breath techniques, such as Lion's Breath.- Slow, long extended breathing with one hand on belly, one hand on heart. - What are my thoughts of worth? What have I been taught, mirrored?- Whose approval have I sought? What criticism has stuck with me? What have I decided makes me attractive? - What is my personal honor code, my center of integrity? What will I do or give up in order to keep another person in my life? Even if I know that person doesn't belong there. - Where am I invested in fear? Of being rejected, alone, criticized, abandoned, of disappointing others?- My self-esteem has to be based on my capacity to follow my own self, not based on my capacity to please other people.

How to strengthen it now:

- Clear out expectations of others. Take people for who they are. - "I am" instead of "I want." - LET GO. Of expectation of your life or another's life. - What am I grateful for? - Expand the heart. Lovingkindness meditation.- Maturity in intellectual intelligence, emotional intelligence, spiritual intelligence.- Less words, less numbers, less counting.- Flow, rhythm, stretch, move.- Being in water is clearing.- Stretch and open your shoulders, arms, hands.- Tap on your collarbone and chest with your fingers. - Walking meditation.- Connection to all living things. Understanding we are all one.- Learn to not judge others. Find something you appreciate about them and genuinely feel it. - Forgive self. Forgive others. Love for self. Love for others.

MEDITATION: I AM LOVE. I AM JOY. I AM OPEN. I AM PEACEFUL.

5TH CHAKRA 🌊 BLUE 🌊 THROAT

What it covers:

- Discovering your voice. Speaking your truth. Acting bravely. - Your capacity to control yourself. To maintain yourself while being in a group of people and not compromise yourself in order to stay within that group of people. - Staying strong enough to know what you need to do no matter what the outside world tells you.

How to strengthen it now:

- Write down everything you do that you know you shouldn't do and everything that you don't do that you know you should. See where the wires are crossed. - Pay attention to how you excuse yourself to break your own rules (including the belief patterns you really shouldn't believe but do). - Express yourself honestly. - Jaw release. - Listen. Listen to hear the voice within. Listening wakes you up. But the voice is quiet. - Sing. Make sounds. OM. Chant. Music. Drumming. Vibration. Rhythm.- The eyes are the truth. Look people in the eye.

MEDITATION: I AM FREE. I AM BALANCED. I AM TRUTHFUL. I AM LIBERATED.

6TH CHAKRA 🔮 INDIGO - PURPLE 🔮 THIRD EYE

What it covers:

How to strengthen it:

- While keeping your head still, make large circles with your eyes in one direction and then the other for 15 seconds each. Look up at the ceiling and down to the floor. Look as far left as you can and as far right. - Pay attention to chills, visions, signs, synchronicities, a "knowing." (Write these down in journal). - Peace and calm are important in order to hear, notice.- Yoga, meditation.- Immerse in water.- Trying to make a decision? Hold a symbol of the decision at your gut. Does your belly feel warm? cool? nothing?- Practice becoming aware of your physical body in the moment multiple times a day. For example, feel your socks on your feet. What is my skin feeling? Are the socks tight, loose, heavy? Is the fabric cotton, synthetic?

MEDITATION: I AM GUIDED. I AM CENTERED. I AM CLEAR. I AM INTUITIVE.

7TH CHAKRA 💎 WHITE 💎 CROWN OF HEAD

What it covers:

How to strengthen it:

- Meditation.- Rituals. - Call in energies - who do you want to talk to? - Gratitude.- Your job while you are on Earth is to discover your beautiful, unusual self and live your life out loud - not only to bring lasting joy into your life but to share the energy of feeling whole with the rest of the universe. - The thing that keeps us from moving forward in our lives is fear. From there, we create defense mechanisms, which are behaviors that distance us from being fully aware of unpleasant thoughts, feelings, and actions. What are yours?